It seems almost crazy to say, but Tim Sylvia-Andrei Arlovski 5 looks to be in the cards

The two former UFC heavyweight champions, arguably each other’s biggest rival with no love lost between the two, on Friday fought to a controversial no contest at “ONE FC 5: Pride of a Nation.” And now there may be a rematch – what would be their fifth meeting – in the works.

ONE FC 5 took place at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, Philippines, with the entire card airing live via online pay-per-view.

Sylvia and Arlovski met on the main card, with Sylvia taking the fourth meeting earlier this month when Arlovski’s scheduled opponent, Soa Palelei, dropped out with an injury. And their fight was an entertaining one through two rounds of back and forth striking.

It appeared that the standup battle was fairly even until the final moments of the second round, when Arlovski was able to put together a combination that put Sylvia on his knees. Arlovski immediately moved in looking to finish and landed a pair of soccer kicks, one to Sylvia’s head and one coming close.

The strikes themselves were not illegal in ONE FC – provided the referee signals that the fighter is allowed to make an open attack. Because that hadn’t happened, the kicks were illegal. Some controversy ensued when it appeared that Sylvia would take five minutes to recover. But when the time was up, the referee brought the two to the middle – where a no contest was ruled.

“I felt I won the first two rounds,” Sylvia said after the fight. “He landed a great three-punch combo and dropped me and kicked me a couple times. The referee wanted to stop the fight, I guess. I think we need a rubber match.”

Arlovski, clearly upset with the decision, said he was amenable to a fifth meeting, as well.

The two heavyweights first met at UFC 51, where Arlovski won the interim UFC heavyweight title with a 47-second submission. But at UFC 59, Sylvia finished Arlovski with punches just 2:43 into the fight. And at their rematch at UFC 61, Sylvia won a unanimous decision to defend the title.

A fourth meeting had been rumored for a while, with ProElite attempting to put together the fight. But it was ONE FC that was able to match them up on Friday – just with unexpected results. It is not yet known if the promotion will attempt to bring them back together to settle things on a future card.

Arlovski (17-9) had put together a two-fight win streak, both for ProElite, after a four-fight skid, including three straight losses in Strikeforce. Sylvia (31-7), after a flirtation with Strikeforce that didn’t pan out, had won seven of eight heading into Friday’s bout.

Bibano Fernandes grinds out win in ONE FC debut

Bibano Fernandes did his work in the first two rounds, then went on cruise control against Gustavo Falciroli.

Fernandes fought for ONE FC for the first time, and it came not long after he was rumored to be on the way to the UFC. In fact, the UFC had a fight set up for the former DREAM featherweight champ and current bantamweight champ. But contract terms proved to be a roadblock, paving the way for his Friday main event against Falciroli.

And true to his reputation, Fernandes controlled the fight with relative ease, doing enough damage to keep Falciroli at bay and consistently outpointing the Australian. And while it wasn’t the night’s most exciting fight, for Fernandes, it got the job done.

“I feel great,” Fernandes said. “This guy is very tough and did a great job. He’s very flexible and tough.”

Fernandes (12-3) now has won four straight and 11 of his past 12 fights. Falciroli (12-4-2) had a two-fight win streak halted with the loss.

Folaylong dominates Enomoto, gets lightweight title shot

Eduard Folayang put on a dominant performance against Felipe Enomoto, and his effort was quickly rewarded.

Folayang controlled the fight wherever it went, particularly in the standup game, and came close to finishing Enomoto in the second round when he put together a beautiful punch combination that culminated with a straight right that was on the button on the chin. The shot put Enomoto on the canvas, but Folayang couldn’t work enough ground-and-pound to finish before the bell.

It was a workmanlike effort for Folayang in the third, with little coming from Enomoto in the way of offense. Folayang, a local fan favorite from the Philippines, cruised to the unanimous decision – even if he wasn’t able to get the finish.

“Felipe’s tough, and I wanted to finish him,” Folayang said. But nonetheless, ONE FC President Victor Cui rewarded Folayang’s effort.

“He’s one of the best fighters today, one of the best fighters in Asia,” Cui said. “And I want to reward him. I’m going to put him up for a ONE FC (lightweight) championship belt on Oct. 6″

Folaylong (12-2) got back in the win column after a March loss at ONE FC 3 and now has won seven of his past eight fights. Enomoto (6-5) falls to 1-2 in ONE FC and has dropped four of his past five.

Kelly stops Pulver to earn ONE FC featherweight title shot

It remains to be seen if Eric Kelly can live up to the hype Jens Pulver threw his way after their fight, but he may be on his way.

Kelly put Pulver in trouble in the second round, landing big shots that forced Pulver to try to take the fight to the ground. But there, Kelly, the clear fan favorite from the Philippines, landed some knees to the head.

As Pulver got back up, he appeared to be tired, and Kelly moved in for the kill. He landed kicks to the legs, then up high, then knees, then a kick to the body that put Pulver right to the canvas. Kelly finished him with ground-and-pound to earn the stoppage 1:46 into the second.

Pulver, 37, had moved back up to featherweight for the fight. He said he’s thinking about retirement – but that he still would like to fight more.

“I was thinking just how fast and strong your boy is,” Pulver told the crowd. “This might be the Manny Pacquiao of MMA. I’m 37 these days. Retirement is on its way. One or two more. My last three wins have all been at 135, but to get the opportunity to fight a savage like this, I had to do it. I’m ready to go back to 135.”

“I trained hard for this fight. Jens Pulver is a legend and a knockout artist, so I did my best to train,” Kelly said. “When I saw he was a little hurt from the punches, I threw a kick and he went down. I wanted to choke him out, but the referee stopped us.”

With the win, Kelly was given a shot at ONE FC’s first featherweight title. He’ll fight early winner Honorio Banario at ONE FC 6 on Oct. 6.

Kelly (8-0) remains unbeaten with the win, and seven of his eight victories have been by stoppage. Pulver (26-7), the first lightweight champ in UFC history, has alternated wins and losses for the past year and a half.

Gracie family goes 2-1 at ONE FC 5

It wasn’t a perfect night for the Gracies, but two wins will have to do.

Rolles Gracie and Gregor Gracie each picked up submission wins on Friday, but Jung Hwan Cha was too much for Igor Gracie late in their fight.

Rolles Gracie needed to get to the third round against Tony Bonello, who was a game opponent and fought through early submission attempts from the jiu-jitsu black belt. But in the third, he finally was forced to tap from a rear-naked choke. Gracie (7-1) won for the fourth straight time and has all his wins by submission – though this was his first trip into the third round. Bonello (16-2-1), after starting his career with 15 wins and nary a defeat, falls for the second time in three outings. It was his first fight in two and a half years.

Gregor Gracie has a much easier route to getting his arm raised. He simply took Nicholas Mann’s arm to do it. It didn’t take Gracie long to get the fight to the ground and go after Mann’s arm. Mann tried to roll his way out of the hold, but Gracie rolled with him and that was it. Mann tapped to an armbar with Gracie on top 3:38 into the fight. Gracie (7-2) is back in the win column after a June loss at ONE FC 4. Mann (4-2) had a four-fight win streak snapped.

But Igor Gracie had a rough go of things. Jung Hwan Cha may have put himself on the map, getting a TKO stoppage 1:03 into the third round. Cha landed some big right hands and a flying knee appeared to not be right on the mark, but still forced Gracie from his feet. From there, Cha got back mount and rained down punches as Gracie curled up. Cha (9-6-1) won for the third time in four fights. Gracie (5-3) had a four-fight win streak come to a halt with the loss.

Phil Baroni, Honorio Banario among impressive early winners

Phil Baroni was in desperate need of a win and a confidence boost, and he got one. Baroni (15-15) won for just the second time in seven fights, and did so in the quickest fashion on the entire card. Baroni came out with guns blazing and stopped Rodrigo Ribeiro (9-10) just one minute into their fight. Baroni landed a right hand in the first five seconds, then soccer kicks on the ground after keeping Ribeiro on the defensive in the standup game and putting him on the floor. After the win, Baroni, a UFC, Strikeforce and PRIDE vet, mugged for the camera – and even carried a ring girl out of the cage.

And Honorio Banario (7-1) opened up the card with an utterly dominant performance against Andrew Benibe (4-3), getting a third-round stoppage. Banario had Benibe on the defensive the entire fight, and appeared to be close to ending the bout on multiple occasions. Benibe survived until he just couldn’t defend anymore – but it was just that throughout: survival. Banario moves on to a featherweight title shot against Eric Kelly at ONE FC 6 on Oct. 6. Benibe had a three-fight win streak snapped.